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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668907">Wrong Address</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Virodeil/pseuds/Virodeil'>Virodeil</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Caught Is Caught Is Cuddled [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adopted Sibling Relationship, Character Development, Character Study, Gen, Mystery, POV Thor (Marvel), Time Skips, Years Later, character introspection</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:14:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,963</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668907</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Virodeil/pseuds/Virodeil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor is transporting Loki to Asgard for judgement and punishment, after the Avengers – or rather, Hulk – brought the latter down. However, he fails to count the fact that he is using an untested devise to do so, powered by a highly moody, severely underappreciated, largely unknown Infinity Gem.</p><p>And the Gem wishes to return to where it was <i>truly</i> used last, by a people with red eyes, blue skin, and abundant seiðr.</p><p>Well, the Gem is not the only one that returns, in the end.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Laufey (Marvel) &amp; Loki (Marvel), Loki &amp; Thor (Marvel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Caught Is Caught Is Cuddled [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1089204</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>138</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Wrong Address</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Well, I planned to finish my existing WIPs for this collection series, first, but the muse said otherwise. I hope you will enjoy this piece, anyway. It has been lon in the works, and I tried a new angle, in this story.<br/>Rey</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To Thor Odinson, the first indication that something is wrong is the way his newly found – newly known to be adopted – younger brother Loki suddenly perks up ever so slightly.</p><p> </p><p>The latter was quiet and grim, as befitting an injured warrior, a defeated foe and – hopefully – a repentent villain. However, just now, even as they flash through uncountable stars and various other celestial objects, towed along by the Tessaract-powered devise that Friend Stark made, Loki seems to grow livelier and livelier.</p><p> </p><p>One part of Thor is glad – even delighted – that his brother has recovered some.</p><p> </p><p>The other part wonders what wicked mischief the said brother has been concocting, in the guise of solemnity and injury.</p><p> </p><p>And then both parts have no more chance to feel or wonder, because the end of the journey abruptly comes upon the party of two Asgardians and one Infinity Gem, flinging them out of the tunnel of energy and into what one might call “real space.”</p><p> </p><p>But their destination – <em>this</em> destination – is certainly <em>not</em> Asgard, let alone the front entrance of the palace that he told Friend Stark to aim for with the devise.</p><p> </p><p>At least, it is his fervent hope that, in his absence, Asgard has not gone into icy ruins and aged millennia in only days, illuminated by a dying blue-white sun, such as what he witnesses presently.</p><p> </p><p>“Loki, is this your doing?” he hisses to his brother, as his eyes roam cautiously, mapping out their surroundings.</p><p> </p><p>Surroundings that are littered with frozen, war-marked bodies and skeletons of both æsir and jötnar, broken and intact weapons and vehicles and buildings, and… other things. And they all seem to be <em>millennia old</em>, instead of just the millennium that it has been since the war between Asgard and Jötunheim.</p><p> </p><p>Worse, the place feels… wrong. Not alien but familiar like Jötunheim felt the first time he set foot on it a year ago, but <em>wrong</em>. The sensation urges him most insistently to vacate the area as soon as possible, in fact.</p><p> </p><p>And, warrior or not, proud ás or not, he obeys that instinct.</p><p> </p><p>It helps that Loki looks just as freaked out as he is.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>O-O-O-O</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The site of the long-ago battle seems to be an ancient city, judging from the remnants of a large, well-constructed road snaking away from it, vanishing at the hilly horizon. Pitted and jagged ice layers and formations have buried most of the stone blocks, leaving just some road markers visible above the chaos.</p><p> </p><p>But, oddly enough, neither plants nor animals have reclaimed this place, even some distance away from the battlefield.</p><p> </p><p>Apparently, even nature is <em>quite</em> wary of this unnerving cesspit of wrongness.</p><p> </p><p>With that in mind, Thor ushers his brother faster along the broken road, hoping to find a safe spot to try to reactivate the Tessaract-powered devise. His heart twinges, hearing Loki wheeze and groan, but he sees no other way to save the both of them from whatever haunting this place, otherwise. He is already supporting more than half of Loki’s weight, as it is.</p><p> </p><p>“A little bit more, brother,” he whispers, as his eyes spy the hint of a mostly hidden nook half-way up the nearest hill.</p><p> </p><p>But the hill seems to… shift… right as he beholds it.</p><p> </p><p>And the feeling of wrongness <em>reaches out</em> from behind his back.</p><p> </p><p>He has no other choice.</p><p> </p><p>`<em>Safety. Safety,</em>` he prays, as he tightens his hold on his brother with one arm and elbows the activation button on the Tessaract-powered devise with the other.</p><p> </p><p>The devise activates just as the wave of hair-rising, heart-pounding <em>something</em> brushes against Thor’s back.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>O-O-O-O</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The ruined temple is more or less the same as the first time Thor and his company… visited… it. Still ice-layered, still mostly ruins, and still apparently deserted. Something is… different… now, but he pays more attention to the fact that <em>the devise has failed to brought him and his brother to Asgard <strong>again</strong></em>.</p><p> </p><p>And then he remembers that, since he set foot on Jötunheim the first time a year ago, <em>he</em> has caused a lot of damage and loss of life, Jötunheim was on the verge of declaring war against Asgard despite its pitiful state, <em>Loki</em> has committed regicide and patricide and attempted genocide, <em>and</em> Asgard has done nothing to address all these issues.</p><p> </p><p>And now, both greatest instigators of violence towards the realm are practically trapped <em>in the said realm</em>, unable to go off-world.</p><p> </p><p>He wonders if it would be better for him and his brother to brave against the wrongness in their previous landing site, instead of facing a horde of justifiably wrathful giants.</p><p> </p><p>Well, it becomes a moot point in the next moment, as he loses consciousness all of a sudden.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>O-O-O-O</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The inside view of a prison cell is embarrassingly familiar, for the crown prince of a mighty realm.</p><p> </p><p>But then again, Thor would grudgingly admit, at least to himself, that he is fully aware of his power, influence and prestige, and has always sought to make use of all three whenever he can, although the events of last year has toned the habbit down a little, and not all places know about – let alone are awed with – Asgard’s might or its crown prince.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, Jötunheim is one of such places, <em>as a realm</em>, and he is reasonably sure that he is <em>still</em> in this accursed ice ball, given the ice layering everything – including frosting on his clothes – and the chill that he can feel permeating the air.</p><p> </p><p>And he cannot find Loki <em>and</em> the Tessaract-powered devise <em>anywhere</em> nearby.</p><p> </p><p>`<em>Father <strong>and</strong> Mother will be very, very angry with me,</em>` is the first thought that passes through his mind, followed with, `<em>Where is the exit? I am not a bauble, to be stored in a box!</em>`</p><p> </p><p>Well, the latter thought is much more worthy of a crown prince who was almost crowned king, so he sticks with it, including when one of the sides of the seamless stone box suddenly turns transparent and reveals a frost giant.</p><p> </p><p>Or at least, the lower half of a frost giant. And <em>that</em> after he looks up as much as he can, while being chained on his hands and feet to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>`<em>Did I shrink? Or were the giants that we faced of a smaller sub-race? But Laufey was even smaller than many there! Why would the giants consent to being led by a runt?</em>`</p><p> </p><p>Still, Thor Odinson is a doughty warrior who has faced much in his centuries of life, and he is not about to be daunted by some oversized brute.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you want with me? Where is my brother and my property?” he demands in his firmest voice despite his raspy throat and vulnerable pose. He knows that his hammer is missing, he can <em>feel</em> it, but he is not going to waste this chance to demand an answer to a question that he knows nobody will answer.</p><p> </p><p>Well, unfortunately, all that the frost giant does is <em>magically</em> yanking him to his feet, at the same time detaching him from the floor and wrapping the excess chains all round him, pinning his arms to his body.</p><p> </p><p>He feels so small and so helpless, somehow, as the prison guard silently drags him tripping and stumbling on his own hobbled feet, ignoring even the pleas that he ends up letting out.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>O-O-O-O</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The throneroom is practically <em>unrecognisable</em> from the ruins that Thor and his company were brought to, before.</p><p> </p><p>For one, it is truly a <em>room</em>, instead of an open-aired hall decorated with jagged edges, gashes, holes and rubble.</p><p> </p><p>For two, there is truly a <em>throne</em>, instead of an ice chair of some sort, although it looks much more utilitarian than the Allfather’s.</p><p> </p><p>And for three, the occupant of the throne, just like the prison guard, is <em>huge</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Thor cannot decide whether to be worried or relieved that the face of the frost giant seated in the throne looks rather like Laufey; just… less monstrous and barbaric.</p><p> </p><p>Well, the said giant looks like both Laufey <em>and</em> Loki, to be exact, which just makes him more unnerved.</p><p> </p><p>Father revealed Loki’s parentage as <em>Laufey’s son</em> after the disaster on the Bifrost. But, to him, Loki is <em>an ás</em>, not at all a jötun. Now, to be confronted by a living, breathing, <em>glaring</em> evidence of such relation seated before him….</p><p> </p><p>And then the said evidence opens… his? Her? Their? Its?… mouth, and Thor’s world, already shaky and unstable this past year, starts to break into pieces, point by point.</p><p> </p><p>The frost giant – <em>this</em> frost giant – is <em>Laufey</em>, who is clearly alive and <em>still</em> monarch of Jötunheim.</p><p> </p><p>Thor has lain insensate for <em>one century, twenty-nine years and four months</em>, a “reduced mimicry of the time Ýmirheim had to do without their heir,” as Loki – no, <em>Loptr Laufey-childe</em> – “sought to recover from various traumas and negative preconditions.”</p><p> </p><p>Asgard is ruled by Queen Frigga <em>under the watch of Jötunheim</em> after <em>both</em> the King and Thor himself were declared dead.</p><p> </p><p>Thor underwent a trial in absentia for his crimes against “Ýmirheim and their heir,” and he has been judged guilty for all charges, with the only mitigating aspect being the “culturally influenced prejudiced motivation” against the jötnar that caused him to so carelessly kill <em>orphaned children</em> in the first time he came there with his company.</p><p> </p><p>Thor has to choose between being a full jötun – and how nasty it is to find that he is already more than a half jötun as it is! – and living as Loki’s guard, spending the rest of his life enchained on the floor of his stone box of a prison cell, or being exiled out of the Nine in the guise of his brother without anything to his name.</p><p> </p><p>Laufey may look less monstrous, now, but the light in <em>her</em> – Loki’s <em>mother’s</em> – eyes is <em>much</em> more frightening than a dumb if vicious beast’s ever is.</p><p> </p><p>He wants to rage. He wants to plead for more time to simply digest all these shattering pieces of information, forget taking a decision that will cost him all that he has ever known in any option. He wants to demand to see <em>Loki</em> – his brother, Loki is <em>still</em> his brother. He wants to bargain for… <em>something</em>… to be able to reunite with his mother, or at least farewell her properly.</p><p> </p><p>All that he hears is Loki wheezing and groaning behind the muzzle, however, and all that he feels is the familiarly slender body hobbling in chains, dragged along and more than half supported by his dutiful – <em>only dutiful</em> – assistance.</p><p> </p><p>So, all that he can say – <em>whisper</em>, rather – is, “Where is my brother? Where… where is Loki – the one you called Loptr?”</p><p> </p><p>And the space on Laufey’s lap shimmers, revealing a jötun half her size who bears much resemblance to her, wrapped familiarly in her arms, with the Tessaract cradled in… his?… own arms like a beloved pet or toy.</p><p> </p><p>Thor’s breath catches in his throat as their eyes meet.</p><p> </p><p>`<em>Loki! Loki! It is Loki!</em>`</p><p> </p><p>It is his brother, indeed, in the guise of a jötun. But, though much more alert and sane than before, Loki’s gaze shows only <em>neutrality</em> towards him, mixed with wariness and even <em>distrust</em>.</p><p> </p><p>And Loki <em>does not speak</em>, while he would not stop speaking before, since they were both children, and Thor even had to shut him up in many occasions, including during the events on Midgard.</p><p> </p><p>Unexpectedly, the silence hurts the most.</p><p> </p><p>And Thor cannot get rid of the remembered sight of his brother, muzzled and chained like a rabid animal, half broken after being Hulk’s “toy,” while he and his Midgardian comrades ate after the Battle of the New City of York.</p><p> </p><p>The decision is an easy one to take, after that, and, he hopes, the <em>right</em> one.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><span class="u">Started on:</span> 21st November 2019 at 06:26 AM<br/><span class="u">Finished on:</span> 2nd August 2020 at 08:46 PM</p></blockquote></div></div>
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